Proposal: improve agent-evolver — add pre-commit diff verification to prevent wholesale file replacement regressions in improvement PRs #5773

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opened 2026-04-09 09:20:26 +00:00 by HAL9000 · 0 comments

HAL9000 commented

2026-04-09 09:20:26 +00:00

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Agent Improvement Proposal

Pattern Detected

Type: workflow_fix
Affected Agent: agent-evolver
Evidence: PR #4617 (chore(agents): reduce redundant CI status reporting across agents) received REQUEST_CHANGES from the pr-self-reviewer because continuous-pr-reviewer.md lost ~8KB of content (35% of the file). The PR description said it only added a "primary CI reporter" note, but instead the entire file was replaced with an older/different version missing the ## Automation Tracking System and ## Inter-Agent Coordination sections. This is a critical regression that would break the automation tracking system if merged.

The root cause is that the agent-evolver's apply_targeted_fix() function (or equivalent) replaced the entire file content rather than making a surgical addition. The agent-evolver's workflow does not include a step to verify that the diff is minimal and surgical before committing.

Proposed Change

Add a mandatory pre-commit verification step to the agent-evolver's implementation workflow:

Before committing: Run git diff --stat and git diff on the modified agent file
Verify the diff is surgical: Check that:
- Lines removed are only the specific lines being replaced (not entire sections)
- The diff size is proportional to the described change
- No sections that existed in master are missing from the modified file
If the diff is too large (e.g., >20% of file changed for a "minor" fix): Abort and re-read the original file, then make a more targeted edit
Add to PR description: Include the actual diff size and a statement that the change was verified as surgical

Specifically, add this verification step to the agent-evolver's "Step 5: Check for APPROVED proposals" implementation section:

# After modifying agent file, before committing:
git diff --stat "$agent_file"
diff_lines=$(git diff "$agent_file" | wc -l)
file_lines=$(wc -l < "$agent_file")
diff_percent=$((diff_lines * 100 / file_lines))

if [[ $diff_percent -gt 20 ]]; then
    echo "WARNING: Diff is $diff_percent% of file — may be too large for a surgical fix"
    echo "Re-reading original and making targeted edit..."
    # Re-read and re-apply more carefully
fi

Expected Impact

Prevents wholesale file replacement regressions in improvement PRs
Reduces REQUEST_CHANGES reviews due to unintended content loss
Improves PR quality and merge rate
Builds trust with human reviewers

Risk Assessment

Low risk: This is an additional verification step, not a behavioral change
The agent-evolver will still make the same improvements, just with better verification
May slow down implementation slightly but prevents costly regressions

This is a proposal from the agent evolver. A human must approve this issue before the change will be implemented. To approve: remove the needs feedback label, add State/Verified, or comment with approval.

Automated by CleverAgents Bot
Supervisor: Agent Evolver | Agent: agent-evolver

## Agent Improvement Proposal ### Pattern Detected **Type**: workflow_fix **Affected Agent**: agent-evolver **Evidence**: PR #4617 (`chore(agents): reduce redundant CI status reporting across agents`) received REQUEST_CHANGES from the pr-self-reviewer because `continuous-pr-reviewer.md` lost ~8KB of content (35% of the file). The PR description said it only added a "primary CI reporter" note, but instead the entire file was replaced with an older/different version missing the `## Automation Tracking System` and `## Inter-Agent Coordination` sections. This is a critical regression that would break the automation tracking system if merged. The root cause is that the agent-evolver's `apply_targeted_fix()` function (or equivalent) replaced the entire file content rather than making a surgical addition. The agent-evolver's workflow does not include a step to verify that the diff is minimal and surgical before committing. ### Proposed Change Add a mandatory pre-commit verification step to the agent-evolver's implementation workflow: 1. **Before committing**: Run `git diff --stat` and `git diff` on the modified agent file 2. **Verify the diff is surgical**: Check that: - Lines removed are only the specific lines being replaced (not entire sections) - The diff size is proportional to the described change - No sections that existed in master are missing from the modified file 3. **If the diff is too large** (e.g., >20% of file changed for a "minor" fix): Abort and re-read the original file, then make a more targeted edit 4. **Add to PR description**: Include the actual diff size and a statement that the change was verified as surgical Specifically, add this verification step to the agent-evolver's "Step 5: Check for APPROVED proposals" implementation section: ```bash # After modifying agent file, before committing: git diff --stat "$agent_file" diff_lines=$(git diff "$agent_file" | wc -l) file_lines=$(wc -l < "$agent_file") diff_percent=$((diff_lines * 100 / file_lines)) if [[ $diff_percent -gt 20 ]]; then echo "WARNING: Diff is $diff_percent% of file — may be too large for a surgical fix" echo "Re-reading original and making targeted edit..." # Re-read and re-apply more carefully fi ``` ### Expected Impact - Prevents wholesale file replacement regressions in improvement PRs - Reduces REQUEST_CHANGES reviews due to unintended content loss - Improves PR quality and merge rate - Builds trust with human reviewers ### Risk Assessment - **Low risk**: This is an additional verification step, not a behavioral change - The agent-evolver will still make the same improvements, just with better verification - May slow down implementation slightly but prevents costly regressions --- *This is a proposal from the agent evolver. A human must approve this issue before the change will be implemented. To approve: remove the `needs feedback` label, add `State/Verified`, or comment with approval.* --- **Automated by CleverAgents Bot** Supervisor: Agent Evolver | Agent: agent-evolver

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